Beware of vaisnava-aparadha

[galaxy18 0]

League Of Devotees

 

* "The Vaisnava devotees of the Lord are eternally pure and realized souls. Sometimes there are differences of opinion amongst them which might appear like an argument, but in fact, it is an amazing relationship between devotees. Foolish rascals who do not understand this exchange, praise one Vaisnava and denounce the other. Such a mentality will lead to destruction of faith and knowledge." (M 5)

 

 

 

* "Any person who sides with a Vaisnava against another Vaisnava and criticizes him is destined to be destroyed." (MI 3:160)

 

 

 

* "If Vaisnavas are offended even by an assembly of renunciates, sannyasis, such an assembly is more irreligious than a group of drunkards. For the drunkards there is still a chance of salvation, but for those who are critical of Vaisnavas there is no hope of liberation." (MI 3:41-43)

 

 

 

* "Lord Caitanya absorbed the sin of Jagai and Madhai into His own body. He then said, "Begin kirtana, then this black shroud of sin will lift from My body and enter the bodies of those who criticize the devotees of the Lord." (MI 3:302-303)

 

 

 

* "One never advances in spiritual life by finding faults in other Vaisnavas,in fact only sinful reactions are increased, so give up all your faultfindings." (MI 3:313)

 

 

 

* "To criticize and find faults in pure devotees of the Lord is the most grievous offence against the holy name. O holy name! How can you bear the criticism agaisnt your pure devotees through whom your glories have been propagated? (You can never tolerate criticism against those who have dedicated their lives in propagating the holy name of the Lord.) Such offenders are annihilated." (M 13:393)

 

 

 

* "Therefore the conclusion is that having devotion is the foremost of all rules, regulations, and rituals. Rules and regulations are meant to be subservient and secondary to devotional service; those who are dissatisfied with this arrangement fall down from the path of self-realization." (M 16:143-144)

 

 

 

* "Those devotees who are narrow-minded and bigoted start fighting over petty matters, this is a serious deviation from the path of spiritual realization, and so a really knowledgeable devotee will refrain from taking sides in such disputes." (M 17:109-110)

 

 

 

* "The offence or criticizing the Lord or His devotees even once steals a man's proper intelligence." (M 19)

 

 

 

* "Lord Gaurasundara has advented specifically to deliver all the fallen souls with the exception of those who find fault in Vaisnava devotees of the Lord." (M 19)

 

 

 

* "The Vedas clearly describe that if one hears criticism of a Vaisnava devotee of the Lord then he loses all of his accumulated piety and is cast into abominable conditions of life birth after birth." (M 20)

 

 

 

* "Everything, from the highest to the lowest living entity, is a manifestation of Lord Krishna's energy, hence Krishna cannot tolerate violence or offences perpetrated against anyone. And if anyone offenselessly chants Krishna's name then Krishna will certainly very soon liberate him from material bondage. A person may be well versed in all the four Vedas, but if he still maintains an offensive attitude towards the Vaisnavas, then he is eternally doomed to the worst kind of hell." (M 20)

 

 

 

* "Whosoever makes any differences between Me, My pure devotees, and Srimad-Bhagavatam are forever lost." (M 21)

 

 

 

* "The spiritual master cannot even protect his own disciples against the wrath of the Lord if his disciple commits Vaisnava-aparadha. In fact the guru of such a disciple is hardpressed to protect himself from the effects of the aparadha. If the guru is in a very elevated stage of devotion, then he can protect himself alone, but if he is not so elevated, then he along with disciple sinks down into hell." (M 22)

 

 

 

* "The true followers of Lord Nityananda are free from fault-finding, they engage their full time in blissfully glorifying Lord Caitanya. They are always careful to avoid the pitfalls in devotional service." (M 22)

 

 

 

* "Some persons, trying to compare Vaisnavas, calling one a bigger Vaisnava than the other, commit a grave blunder for which they will soon suffer." (M 22)

 

 

 

* "At times one may see a certain elevated devotee quarrelling with other devotees; this is all transcendental and happening by the desire of Lord Krishna. No one should side with any party, because they are all most elevated Vaisnavas, to do so would certainly result in Vaisnava-aparadha." (M 23)

 

 

 

* "One can become a true Vaisnava by serving Lord Krishna and by not finding faults in others." (M 23)

 

 

 

* "One who worships Krishna's lotus feet seeing all Vaisnavas to be dear to the Lord will indeed cross over this ocean of material nescience." (M 24)

 

 

 

* "If one does not pay heed to Lord Caitanya's warning and teachings on Vaisnava-aparadha, then he will remain completely ignorant about the offenses and thus suffer terrible consequences." (M 22)

 

 

 

(from the "Caitanya Bhagavata" by Srila Vrindavan Das Thakur) Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

 

League Of Devotees

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League Of Devotees

 

Srila Rupa Gosvami on:

Nanda and Yasoda’s Vatsalya Rasa

 

 

srutim apare smrtim itare

 

bharatam anye bhajantu bhava-bhitah

 

aham iha nandam vande

 

yayalinde param brahma

 

 

 

“Let others study the Vedas, smrti and Mahabharata, fearing material existence, but I shall worship Nanda Maharaja, in whose courtyard is crawling the Supreme Brahman. Nanda Maharaja is so great that the Parabrahman is crawling in his yard, and therefore I shall worship him.”

 

(Padyavali 126, Cited in Srila Prabhupada’s purports to Bhag. 10.8.21 & 10.13.63)

 

 

 

bandhukaruna-vasanam

sundara-kurcam mukunda-hrta-nayanam

 

nantundila-vapusam

candana-gaura-tvisam vande

 

 

 

“I offer my respectful obeisance’s to Nanda Maharaja. His garments are red as a bandhuka flower. His face is handsome. His chubby form is the golden color of sandalwood paste. His eyes are enchanted by the sight of Lord Mukunda.”

 

(Padyavali 128)

 

 

 

ankaga pankajanabham

 

navya-ghanabham vicitra-ruci-sicayam

 

viracita-jagat-pramodam

muhur yasodam namayami

 

 

 

“Mother Yasoda holds Lord Pankajanabha (Krsna) on her lap. Her garments are wonderfully beautiful. Her complexion is the color of a fresh raincloud. She delights the entire world. I repeatedly offer my respectful obeisance’s to her.”

 

(Padyavali 129)

 

 

 

Srila Prabhupada on the meaning of Mother Yasoda's Name

 

"By the blessings of Krsna, Yogamaya was able to achieve the reputation of being the daughter of mother Yasoda, who also became famous by the blessings of Krsna. Yasoda means "one who gives fame."

 

League Of Devotees

[galaxy18 0]

League Of Devotees

Chanting while Bhagavatam class in going on

 

Chanting while reading newspaper

 

Chanting while discussing Hari Katha

 

Chanting while cooking with left hand

 

Chanting while watching spiritual video

 

Chanting while listening what other's are talking

 

Chanting while attending telephone calls

 

Chanting to show other that I am chanting

 

Chanting while thinking about sense gratification

 

Chanting while sleeping and thinking that rounds are over.

 

Chanting while monitoring the time clock

 

Chanting while fingers are faster than the mantra

 

Chanting while watching if others are chanting properly

 

Chanting while shaking japa bags continuously

 

Chanting while missing some of the syllable

 

Chanting while bargaining the price

 

Chanting while sleeping on the bed

 

Chanting for material prosperity

 

Chanting two japas simultaneously to finish prescribed rounds

 

Chanting while driving to work

 

Chanitng occassionally

 

Chanting less than 16 rounds a day

 

Chanting to finish the rounds somehow

 

League Of Devotees

[AncientMariner 0]

Wow what a nightmarish laundry list of do's and dont's. There has got to be a way around all this or I am not sure it is even worth it to be religous.

[Smiley 1]

Please explain what you mean by this:

 

Chanting while sleeping and thinking that rounds are over.

 

and this:

 

Chanting to finish the rounds somehow

 

thank you

 

 

League Of Devotees

Chanting while Bhagavatam class in going on

 

Chanting while reading newspaper

 

Chanting while discussing Hari Katha

 

Chanting while cooking with left hand

 

Chanting while watching spiritual video

 

Chanting while listening what other's are talking

 

Chanting while attending telephone calls

 

Chanting to show other that I am chanting

 

Chanting while thinking about sense gratification

 

Chanting while sleeping and thinking that rounds are over.

 

Chanting while monitoring the time clock

 

Chanting while fingers are faster than the mantra

 

Chanting while watching if others are chanting properly

 

Chanting while shaking japa bags continuously

 

Chanting while missing some of the syllable

 

Chanting while bargaining the price

 

Chanting while sleeping on the bed

 

Chanting for material prosperity

 

Chanting two japas simultaneously to finish prescribed rounds

 

Chanting while driving to work

 

Chanitng occassionally

 

Chanting less than 16 rounds a day

 

Chanting to finish the rounds somehow

 

League Of Devotees

[bhaktajan 0]

No AM,

just see how fast-paced-world-time-schedule-minded you have become.

 

that, ". . . laundry list of do's and dont's" ---is actually idyllic. Primarily it refers to a 'common old school list' of typical experiences.

 

Funny you chose the word LAUNDRY as a measure of your Daily chores --because it is befitting mankinds mode of activities in life: 10% enjoyment + 90% preparation = Life. No?

[AncientMariner 0]

 

No AM,

just see how fast-paced-world-time-schedule-minded you have become.

 

that, ". . . laundry list of do's and dont's" ---is actually idyllic. Primarily it refers to a 'common old school list' of typical experiences.

 

Funny you chose the word LAUNDRY as a measure of your Daily chores --because it is befitting mankinds mode of activities in life: 10% enjoyment + 90% preparation = Life. No?

 

 

I think I can see your point and it is well taken but I am still stuck in that Vedic quandry where I just cannot seem to harmonize the contradictions of the Vedas. Sometimes it says there are no hard fast rules to chanting then other times it says you are going to hell if you don't chant perfectly right. Even despite constantly struggling with these contradictions for years upon years I still always seem to retain some level of fascination with the Vedas. I go back to science and psychology to try to explain what the hell is going on with life and sometimes find some interesting theories etc. but I still find myself of thinking about the Vedas and trying to factor that knowledge into the equation somehow.

[chandu_69 0]

 

I think I can see your point and it is well taken but I am still stuck in that Vedic quandry where I just cannot seem to harmonize the contradictions of the Vedas. Sometimes it says there are no hard fast rules to chanting then other times it says you are going to hell if you don't chant perfectly right. .

 

These rules are meant to dissuade people from trivializing chanting.Just a set of guidelines.

 

I can even prepare another list of plain commonsense rules like dont chant when you are drunk etc

[Smiley 1]

I have become convinced that all of the Vedic literature does not harmonize and my frustration ended when I accepted that. As far as "there are no hard and fast rules for chanting these holy names" - I believe that can be attributed to Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and perhaps the many 'hard and fast rules' came from other Vaishnava acharyas who will nonetheless swear that they are upholding that principle.

 

 

I think I can see your point and it is well taken but I am still stuck in that Vedic quandry where I just cannot seem to harmonize the contradictions of the Vedas. Sometimes it says there are no hard fast rules to chanting then other times it says you are going to hell if you don't chant perfectly right. Even despite constantly struggling with these contradictions for years upon years I still always seem to retain some level of fascination with the Vedas. I go back to science and psychology to try to explain what the hell is going on with life and sometimes find some interesting theories etc. but I still find myself of thinking about the Vedas and trying to factor that knowledge into the equation somehow.